Lithium-thionyl chloride cells are known from such sources as U.S. Pat. No. 3,926,669, U.K. Patent Specification No. 1,409,307 and elsewhere. Such systems are considered to offer high energy density and great promise in many service applications where light weight in proportion to capacity is important. The unique feature of such systems is that the liquid material, thionyl chloride or its equivalent performs the dual function of acting as electrolyte carrier (for an electrolyte salt which is conventionally LiAlCl.sub.4) and cathode depolarizer. Thus, the cathode depolarizer directly contacts the anode metal, which is usually highly active lithium metal. It is found that as a result of such direct contact, a film forms on the lithium anode leading to polarization thereof. Such polarization leads to the phenomenon of voltage delay, wherein the voltage delivered by the cell when it is placed under load after storage is substantially below cell capability for some time. This characteristic is a definite handicap, particularly in powering electronic devices which require a constant voltage.